On April 5, 2024, the Colorado House passed SB068. Next, the bill goes to Governor Jared Polis for his consideration.
On Tuesday, April 2, 2024, SB068, the bill to improve the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act, passed out of the House Health & Human Services Committee by a 9-4 vote.
On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, SB068 was introduced into the House Health & Human Services Committee.
On Friday, March 8, 2024, SB068, passed the full Senate with a bipartisan 24-11 vote and moved to the House Health & Human Services Committee.
On Thursday, February 29, 2024, SB068 was heard by the Senate Health & Human Services Committee and successfully passed out of Committee by a bipartisan 7-1 vote.
You can pledge your support, here: https://join.compassionandchoices.org/a/join-end-life-options-movement
The Colorado End-of-Life Options Act went into effect on December 16, 2016, authorizing the compassionate option of medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults to get a prescription they can take to end their suffering peacefully. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment released its 2022 Data Summary, with 2017-2022 Colorado End-of-Life Options Act Trends and Totals. This report confirms that 1,090 patients benefited from this compassionate end-of-life option since 2017.
For Patients Learn whether you are eligible for the Colorado End of Life Options Act.
End-of-Life Planning Use our step-by-step guide to chart your journey or access the Colorado advance directive directly here.
Recursos en Español Recursos en Español.
COVID-19 Toolkit Get answers to your questions
about COVID-19 and end of life care.
Resources for Providers Find resources tailored to the needs of healthcare
providers.
Dementia Values & Priorities Tool Use our tool to document your preferences to make sure you get the care you want.
In 2016, Compassion & Choices and the Compassion & Choices Action Network made the strategic decision to support a ballot initiative in Colorado. Compassion & Choices lent its policy know-how and deep understanding of aid-in-dying laws to work with petitioners to draft the proposed statute, while the Compassion & Choices Action Network provided important financial resources to foster an effective on-the-ground advocacy effort.
Bolstered by funds provided by Compassion & Choices Action Network – Colorado (CCAN-CO), the Yes on Colorado End-of-Life Options committee organized the citizen-led campaign for Proposition 106 after two narrowly failed attempts by the Colorado Legislature to pass the measure, in spite of multiple public polls showing overwhelming support.
In December 2016, as the result of a ballot initiative, Proposition 106, the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act went into effect. The voters of Colorado supported the ballot measure by a 2-1 margin, giving Proposition 106 more “Yes” votes than any ballot measure in state history. Compassion & Choices and the Compassion & Choices Action Network inspired a citizen-led ballot initiative and provided financial and technical support to the Yes on Colorado End-of-Life Options campaign. Read more about the effort to pass the Colorado measure in a blog by Kim Callinan here.
Following on Compassion & Choices’ efforts to help pass the measure, we immediately launched a bilingual access campaign to ensure that Coloradans understand how the law works and their care providers have supportive policies in place. Volunteers provide public outreach events at public libraries, community centers, recreation centers, health fairs, senior centers and other social events. Medical Provider Advocates also host medical outreach events, such as in-service training and healthcare provider education, encouraging health systems and hospice to adopt policies supportive of patient choice. Compassion & Choices currently has Action Teams covering nearly the entire state (Denver, South Metro, Northern Colorado, Southern Colorado, Western Colorado) helping with implementation, education and protection of the state’s law. Action Teams are an important component of our campaign. They lead the outreach to local officials and help train local volunteers. Get involved with an Action Team.
